Try Me Hand-crafted spectacles Kirk Originals from pounds 180
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Your support makes all the difference.If, like 30 million members of the UK population, you need corrective glasses, a computer innovation could take the misery out of choosing your next pair, and actually make it fun. Enter Jason Kirk of Kirk Originals Eyewear. His hand-crafted glasses are favourites with U2's Adam Clayton, and Mark "Return of the Mac" Morrison. In their hey-day the Two Ronnies would have worn Kirk's too.
Jason Kirk started the company from home five years ago after finding boxes of specs from the Fifties and Sixties in his optician grandfather's house, as well as the raw material to make other glasses - hence the name Kirk Originals. His first shop in Covent Garden is home to the "Mirror Multiview" computer, opthalmic eyewear, sunglasses, and a few dudes wearing "nerdy" specs.
If you need new glasses but you can't see for toffee without them,how are you supposed to choose a new pair? The Mirror Multiview is the answer to your prayers. The computer takes a picture of you wearing your original specs, and another picture with each subsequent pair you try on.
The images on view (like the one above) are shown in groups of four - and it is not a mirror image - it is a true photo. Comparisons can be made with each pair on screen and with advice from staff the selection can be whittled down to a favourite pair - Jason Kirk prides himself on choosing the right specs for his clients. Once a pair is decided upon photos are taken from each angle so you can see yourself how others see you, and the print-out can be taken away for perusal.
As a spectacles wearer, I found the computer very useful. I didn't buy the pairs I tried on, but will be back to have another go. If you don't need glasses, Kirk's large collection of sunglasses are also great, and they can be used as normal specs too.
Kirk Originals, 36 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2. Prices for sunglasses begin at pounds 65; opthalmic frames from pounds 180. The ones above are called `Dena', they cost pounds 180.
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